Many Happy Returns
by Kolorful Kyandii
Summary: Collection of one-shots and head-cannons. Some connected, some not. Klance. [Kuron's Appearance], [Matt's Rescue], [Truth or Dare]
1. Kuron's First Week 'Back'

Shiro slept for two entire days after they pulled him from the Tundra, during which time the second-in-command had to literally tie their leader down the first morning after to keep him from destroying half the training room as he waited. And then Shiro finally did wake up, the happiness with which he greeted his brother after months of grief was like new air.

At the same time, Lance was jealous, and more than a little angry. He knew these would disappear quickly though – it wasn't Shiro's fault, him leaving them. And it was only natural Keith would give him so much attention, to make sure he was ok after being gone so long. He had two PTSD attacks just within the first day. And that was good. He would never be free of it, of course, but it meant he could heal from what he experienced, not repressing it like last time.

For quite a while now he'd been Keith's world, the only one to go to for comfort. It was so nice, to be needed, for the short time he was. But now Keith could do ok without him. The Black Paladin was back, Keith could finally go back to his lion that definitely did not have any brakes, and Allura was far more talented in the weapon her father built than he was.

But damn if he would bring down Keith's happiness with that. Things would sort themselves out. Keith was finally happy and that mattered far, far more, because far more wonderful than the feeling of being needed, was the feeling of everyone around him being happy to the core even in the middle of a messy war.

On the second night, after Shiro had woken up around noon, Keith stayed in Shiro's room – had passed out leaning against the bed. It was the first time they'd slept separately in months, and with the utter silence of space – not just silence of the night, but empty, horrible kind of silence that could drive people crazy if they were in it too long – Lance barely slept at all, no longer used to it. It had taken months for them to adapt to the quiet when they first arrived. Now that Keith would no longer need him as much, he would be more like himself again, gain back the fire to his independence and confidence to work alone without Lance there to check him like when he was leading. Even if Keith didn't want them to, they would drift apart in the coming weeks. One day soon he might be sleeping alone every night again.

He felt sick. Literally sick. But the next morning when he saw Keith at breakfast, smiling at everything and laughing without Lance having to tease him into it, well, this was someone he loved, and seeing those you love happy is worth it. At least, to Lance. It was the best thing in the world. Better than rain, flying, better than having a relationship if it means that person will be less happy.

Keith spent every second of his day with his brother for two days. Two nights, they had been apart, barely spoken, except at that night's dinner when Shiro commented about them not fighting.

"Oh, we still fight plenty," Keith muttered, but it was with a tiny smile.

Lance snickered. "Give it like a week and things will be back to normal. I think everyone's on their best behavior because Space Dad supervision is suddenly back."

Pidge shifted in her seat, looking away.

"… Except for Pidge, apparently."

Pidge smirked. Shiro gave her a look. "What did you do."

"… Hacked some more Galran prison network stuff."

"Pidge."

"Is that judgment I hear! They're our enemy I should be allowed to hack them!"

"No, pride."

Pidge giggled, covering her mouth and pretending it didn't happen.

Shiro shoved back his plate only half-finished, but his tone was light. "Anyway, I'm gonna head to sleep. We land tomorrow afternoon but I'm supposed to still be resting for a while."

"Night, Shiro!" Keith called after him, waving.

"You're not staying with him again?" Lance murmured under his breath, leaning close.

"Nah. I need an actual long shower and time to introvert."

This much he could ask, then. This much was ok. "Please stay with me tonight. We can just sit there and read or something. I kinda miss you."

Keith's smile made him feel a little better.

…

The next day they had sunlight, as they approached into the target solar system; the sun there was a blue giant star, waking them a bit earlier than usual by filling the cabins facing it in wavering blue light.

"'S like when you see the pool reflecting light." Keith observed drowsily as he woke, Lance already long since up for his usual morning routine, humming the usual of a slow Beyonce song to bring Keith slowly awake – he was not a good morning person and always needed time to begin full brain function, and having non-startling auditory input always seemed to help.

Lance nodded, keeping his eyes away from the window and its burning point of light – the windows filtered radiation to safe levels, but it still would leave a bright spot in your eyes, despite the fact the light making its way into the room was faint like an early sunrise over the distance.

"'S pretty." Keith continued after a moment, still watching the faint ripples on the ceiling. "Like we're underwater but air. Cuz it's blue, like you."

"~Everything is blue, his pills, his hands his jeans, you know I'm covered in the colors pulled apart at the seams. And it's blueeeeee, it's blueeeee oh, oh...~" Lance half hummed, half sang, under his breath.

Keith rolled sideways, managed to not trip over the sheets and faceplant like he did sometimes, and stumbled his way to the bathroom to brush his teeth, returning to grab his clothes for the day with the brush sticking out of his mouth.

Technically, they still had separate rooms, and they tended to switch between them, so he was still wandering around cluelessly looking for his black training shirt that must be in the other room when Lance returned with food for both of them, though they both made a face at it. Lance put it on the side table to make it clear it was for later – eating too early, despite what human culture told people about it being important, always made them both feel nauseous for hours.

"Still humming that one? What's it?"

"Colors. You got it stuck in my head. It is kinda perfect for us actually, if you change a line or two." Lance shrugged, and started from the beginning, singing aloud this time and taking Keith's hands to spin them around lazily, breaking once to yawn, which Keith echoed and using his small advantage of being two inches shorter, dropped his head to rest on Lance's shoulder – though because he was falling back asleep, not out of affection.

"~You were red, and you liked me 'cuz I was blue… but you touched me, and suddenly it was lilac sky-~"

And then the piercing wake-up alarms went off. Both of them startled, and almost tripped as they missed the next step.

"… I hate those alarms." Keith muttered, now much more awake, lifting his head.

Lance narrowed his eyes. "Nope. Not letting it ruin it." He determined, and pulled Keith back to him, making himself relax with a deep breath and threading together the fingers of the hand held up in dance posture. Keith gave him a knowing look, using their new wakefulness to change it to actual dancing as Lance kept singing, this time with a different slow song as Keith returned to the previous state of absolutely melting.

It was thirty minutes into the forty-five minutes between alarm and beginning of training when his voice finally got a little overused and they finally had to stop and force down a bit of the food, curled up on the bed. Reaching the training hall was like waking up from a dream, and Keith greeted Shiro by racing to him and giving him a rare awkward shoulder pat.

"You saw me yesterday, Keith."

"Yeah, shut up."

…

"I win." Lance said triumphantly.

"Lance, I have you completely pinned."

"I know."

Keith flushed. "Oh."

Lance laughed lightly, drawing him down and pressing their mouths together affectionately, tilting his head slowly.

A noise of total shock and the slam of a door interrupted this, as Shiro shut the door in Pidge and Hunk's faces.

"Oh, uh, is it time to switch to the maze already?" Lance asked awkwardly as Keith let himself fall sideways and sat up, putting probably too much space between them in an effort to make Shiro more comfortable.

"Er, yes. Uh..." Space Dad shifted awkwardly, taking a deep breath. "Okay. Um. I know everyone is riding some kind of high from things going so well and the entire team being together again, but Keith, taking that out on Lance in that way is… not a good thing to do."

"… Huh?"

"Well, the endorphins released when doing something like physical training shouldn't- uh- you- just- that kind of physical- uhhh… Keith, please don't uhhhhhhhhhhh…"

Lance snorted and Keith threw him a glare.

The door banged open as Pidge kicked it in, straightening from her obviously eavesdropping posture.

"Pidge! Did you two both hear..."

"Yeah." Hunk nodded. "That was truly one of the most awkward things I ever heard you try to do, I'm sorry, but that was hilarious."

"Yeah, didn't you _tell_ him?" Pidge demanded curiously of Keith.

Keith tipped his head. "Yeah, I think so – I had to of… Yes. I kinda rambled about the whole Lion King thing, for certain, and Lance piloting Red. I _definitely_ told him about Puigaria. So yes. He knows."

"So why is there a problem with-"

The proximity alarms went off, informing them they were approaching the planet and to brace for booster activation.

…

After sitting in a boring conference for three full human hours, the paladins were in various stages of either falling asleep or hyperactively fidgeting with something beneath the table, when they were finally let out like kids to a schoolyard, given a variant of a picnic lunch, and led by a guide who then excused themselves to go finish some work based on the plans they'd just made to the meadows filled with alien wildflowers.

"Cool, plants." Lance grinned. Not a lot of planets had them, in fact, this was only maybe the tenth of the hundred or so they'd visited that had widespread innate vegetation.

"They grow back instantly, look!" Hunk pointed at one, where he had picked the flower and the stem revived to a bud instantly. "Guilt-free flower picking. Awesome."

"They come in all the colors. It's like a giant gay pride blanket." Keith muttered, still glassy-eyed from the meeting but slowly achieving his usual high functioning energy state. "The floor is made of pride."

"Keith… _dormir, mi Príncipe_. Just go to sleep." Lance gestured to the blanket beside him. "It's really soft. I wonder what they use for the threads..."

"Ah, that would be the vomit of the Jacopasslclud Worm." Allura answered instantly. "Once hardened it breaks apart into thin strands which are spun and woven."

Lance, frozen, slowly stood up off the blanket. "On second thought, that sounds interesting about the flowers, Hunk. Let's go pick some."

Keith laughed at him.

When they returned, it was to find Coran had thankfully fetched a replacement blanket from the ship after Pidge had explained it was another Human Thing, arms overloaded with flowers.

"Hey, guys!… Can you even see?"

"Nope, not really." Lance informed, waggling his eyebrows playfully. "But we brought back a few to decorate the most gorgeous person in existence. Maybe I'll even get a date this time."

Shiro made an annoyed sound. "Lance. This is not the time for flirting with Allura-"

"Aw, thanks-" Keith began.

"Yeah, here you go Coran!" Lance chirped, and they both dumped the entire pile into the eldest Altean's lap. The man's face lit up with a surprised laugh along with Pidge and Allura. Keith nearly choked on air, completely torn between laughing and being offended, and Shiro stared with his mouth slightly open in confusion.

"What did you find out about the flowers?"

"For one, a lot of overexposure to the sap ca- ACHOO!- causes Hay Fever." Hunk groaned. "But only if you rub it in by accident. Also-" And he began to describe and compare with Pidge using a lot of Latin terms.

While Allura, Pidge, and Hunk began conspiring with Coran about making something with them such as flower crowns, Lance turned to Keith and pulled the last one out of his hair – the only one they'd found in traditional dark wine red, as the majority of the dark flowers were more greens and blues. "Juuuust kidding, _Hermosa, mi Amado._ "

Keith flushed bright red as Lance sat down next to him, tucking the flower behind his ear. Shiro stared. "Lance… I'm sorry, but I think you're letting earlier effect you too much." Shiro leaned close to mutter to both of them, glancing to make sure he wasn't overheard by the others chattering away about colors on the other side of the blanket. "Look. I know you two are closer now, friends even, but… A relationship would be dangerous to the team – please. Understand?"

Both of them blinked at him.

"… I thought you told him?" Lance looked at Keith.

"I did. I definitely did, in as many words too."

"Wait – what?" Shiro yelped, voice a bit high pitched.

"Seriously Shiro. How do you misinterpret, 'Lance started sleeping in my room to help with the nightmares', and 'the only way the new leadership worked is if Lance was with me', and 'Lance showed me Lion King and we spent two hours arguing if I would be Simba or him, and we finally agreed I could be Simba only if he was Nala'. _How do you misinterpret_."

"Wait, so you did tell him but he didn't notice?!" Pidge put in, the entire team staring by now.

"We've been dating for months."

"… Oh. Ohhh, that's why you gave me weird looks in the training room. I see. You guys are already… dating. You are dating my little brother YOU ARE SLEEPING WITH MY LITTLE BROTHER YOU SHADY FLIRTY LITTLE JACKASS-"

Lance shrieked in terror as the glowing Galratech hand slammed down right where he had been a moment before, burning a hole in the blanket.

…

"-and that's how Kuron found out about it, so yeah, I'd say you're taking this pretty well." Lance assured Shiro, patting his shoulder. "But wow. You took almost as long as he did to notice."

"So you've been dating him that long? Hm." Shiro stared thoughtfully out the window. "Sorry for assuming it was new and trying to break you up."

"It's fine, I mean not like we really date anymore anyways."

"Huh?"

"Well I mean it's been a couple years since that, we're married, we kind of have a routine now – it's diff-"

"MARRIED?!"


	2. Matt's First Week Joining

They were really happy for Pidge, finally having her brother home. Even though the Voltron team was the closest family many of them had ever known, they'd never seen her that excited, dragging him around the entire mile-long ship to show him everything important, giggling when he became completely lost within five minutes. Heck, they'd been on the ship three years and there were still areas they'd never seen, like the entire 'Eastern' arm of the Castleship, where Coran and Allura slept. It had taken them a year to find out there was a pool after all.

Once they'd settled into the lounge and Hunk brought them milkshakes, Pidge had finally calmed down, but there was still light in her eyes and a bounce to her step that they were overjoyed to see.

Only twenty hours previously, he'd been locked inside a base, the only thing he'd seen for at least a year; and his little sister was on Earth, safe. Certainly not trained to be a pilot, much less piloting the weapon that was the literal front line of the war resistance. Earth didn't even know there was a war, it wasn't like going into space was a normal thing people did. Even though he himself had been living in space, he still thought of 'reality' at home as a set way of living. One that did not include leaving the surface, being kidnapped by aliens, operating for a _war_ effort, or even entering the pilot school underage – flying before sixteen.

He said she shouldn't be flying underage, even for Voltron, but she'd laughed, a certain look in her eye- - and that's how, even with all the information shoved at him, he knew she was keeping something back. After a moment she'd replied.

"I'm the only one who can fly the green lion."

"Why? Its stats are midrange compared to the other lions. Can Coran pilot?"

"No, he can't."

"I can..."

"You still couldn't pilot, not even green, we're bonded. I _am_ Green. We _are_ Voltron. It was a miracle that Allura can pilot, actually, but she isn't… Blue."

It was like she was trying to explain something factual, but her gentle resigned tone expected that he wouldn't be able to understand.

After the failed operation to go in undercover, things settled into a routine. Up until now, he's always lived on a planet, or in a Galran cell. In the cell, time passed is jerks and halts, he had no idea what day it ever was. On the base, he operated according to their sun, which was close enough to the one back home to be comfortable.

Here was new. Here they would simply turn on or off the lights with a command, and that was the only way you knew it was day or night. The vacuum of space had no heat so if you stood too close to a window you could feel the subzero radiating off it, and it was always, always dark. Worse – it was utterly, completely silent. Not in the 'quiet night' way – there was nothing. Matt had read something once, about an experiment back on Earth where they made a box that was as silent inside as space – people went insane in that thing before even an hour passed. Allura and Coran did not seem to understand why none of the humans refused to be alone, but accommodated it anyway. Coran and sometimes Allura would stay with him during the days, and he stayed in Pidge's room at night, but they told him that he would eventually adapt enough to be able to sleep in his own room – they'd had to sleep all together in the lounge for at least two months when they first got here, they assured, so he could take his time.

They went from planet to planet, doing small shows to try and bring the populace to their side, help against the Galrans. Up too early in the morning – once or twice to shrieking false alarms, for training – and then immediately after breakfast the Paladins would disappear until lunchtime, for practice. He went along once and was only more confused, watching as all of them tied on blindfolds, and then fought – without being able to see! - against a Gladiator, with only Shiro supervising, watching carefully and never taking his eyes off the robot, not the ones he was supposed to watch out for, even if they took a hit. Same with the maze. He only went that once, it was too odd, and no one could really explain to him what they were doing. Sometimes they would show up to lunch and have forgotten they had the blindfolds on. How you could forget that you can't see, he had no idea.

And then after lunch, they would go down to 'talk to the lions', meaning each of them would simply walk inside and perch on their lion's paw or go inside, and then just sit there staring at it. Except for Allura; she almost never went to either training or 'talking'.

When he asked, all they said was that they were talking to the psychic robots.

Helpful.

Even worse was Shiro, who was definitely not Shiro, and Pidge seemed to know about it. Every time he started to try and say something, Pidge would cover his mouth, until finally he decided to ask someone else – who as soon as he said 'Shiro is not Shi-' had also covered his mouth, Lance touching a finger to his lips in a universal gesture of silence, then whispered, "We know. Kuron is the only one that doesn't know, it would destroy him, so shush."

"But what if he betr-"

"The Black Lion lets him pilot." Lance had stated, shrugged, and walked away.

During this time it became evident that there was a _lot_ Pidge couldn't say, even more than about the training and 'Kuron'. He saw plenty of it – in how the Paladins interacted, almost hive-mind at times and extremely pack-minded at the rest. Almost defensive. In how the occasional sentence would trail off and lots would go unsaid, but all the rest understood it. Well, mostly; Allura and Coran seemed to sometimes know, sometimes be just as confused as he was but used to being so. There seemed to be a little disconnect between the Pink Paladin and the others; he had the feeling their bond used to be closer, but now there were times something that seemed fine to him was mentioned and the room would go stiff, then the other four Paladins would slowly find excuses to leave with courteous tones.

"So where can I get a uniform like you guys have? If I'm gonna be riding along to cloak, I kinda need more than these comfy ragtags."

"Oh, good idea. Our uniforms are traditional, the uniforms of the past paladins that piloted, but we can get you something like a modified Blade uniform."

"Cool. But hey, if those are the original uniforms, shouldn't Lance wear pink and Allura wear blue? Or is it a favorite color thing?" Matt asked curiously, grinning.

The room went eerily still.

"… What? What's wrong?"

"My favorite color is actually a toss-up." Lance said at last, voice very quiet when it became apparent no one was able to speak. He sounded weirdly cheerful, even more than he usually did, a sharp contrast to the silence. "Red or dark amethyst. Blue is my third favorite. I just – fit this uniform better. What color is your favorite? We can make it any you want."

Hunk stood suddenly and exited the room, and Matt glanced after him, and around at the totally silent room. "Um, I like most colors. Anything non-Crayola but bright really. Amber, grass, cyan, etc. So, why don't you change your color to red or dark amethyst then?"

"Sorry I have to go." Lance said – sounding even more ridiculously happy – and stood very quickly, virtually running out of the room while Matt stared after in confusion. It was like he'd said one of those wrong things, and in trying to mend it, made it worse. But what harm was a person's favorite color? What had he said wrong?

He could not figure these people out.

But it occurred to him for the first time that Lance's smile had been pretty fake there. He'd thought the guy was an idiot – not a crime when comparing to the Holts and they knew that – but even worse a jock. Yet even when his teammates had gone quiet, he had kept smiling. He was always smiling, always making everyone laugh, even in those odd moments like just now. Maybe he wasn't as air-headed as he seemed.


	3. Back To Human Tactics

"Well, we could play Truth or Dare." Pidge suggested.

"NO." Keith yelped, head whipping around to face her in horror.

Pidge grinned. "Yes!"

"So bonding exercises from Earth are called Truth or Dare? What is it?" Allura asked curiously.

"Nope. Not happening." Keith denied again.

"Keith, you all said you wanted variety from the Altean bonding methods. It would be good to implement ones from your own culture."

"I am not playing T or D. Not. Happening." Keith growled determinedly.

…

"Shiro, Truth or Dare?" Pidge asked, grinning evilly.

"I do not trust you with information, Dare."

"We get to call you daddy for 24 hours and you can't complain."

Shiro frowned as the others around the circle shared amusement.

"Lance, your turn."

"Okay. Um. Another one for Shiro, then, sorry bro. Truth or Dare."

"Truth?"

"Uh… what is your orientation…?"

"Ace. Heteromantic."

"Oh, okay. Hunk?"

"Er, Coran. Truth or Dare."

"Truth is the answering of a personal question, and Dare is obeying a command, yes?"

"Yeah."

"Then I choose Truth! Only the Princess has the right to command me!" Coran declared dramatically.

Hunk sighed mildly at his theatrics, not bothering to tell him it was unsportsmanlike to do truths the entire game. "Okay, sing us your favorite song."

"Song?"

"Uh, yeah. Do the translators not work for that word?"

"I simply don't quite understand how one would sing a song."

"Um..."

"Like music." Shiro attempted. "That you dance to? You just… sing your favorite one to listen to."

"Oh! How odd. In Altea, we have music to dance to and songs that are passed down in families for singing. We do not cross them. So, humans sing the songs they dance to?"

"Uh, yeah."

Coran thought for a moment, then nodded and began humming an extremely odd jerking tune with awkward skips in the tempo. It was very short, and Allura tapped him when he began to repeat as you were apparently supposed to.

There was a moment of silence.

"That was music?" Pidge muttered to Hunk, who shushed her.

Coran gave her a disconcerted look. "Yes?"

"That was not music." A voice said from the doorway.

"Keith! Did you decide to join in after all?" Allura asked curiously.

"Nope, no way."

"Fiiiine. Allura, your turn."

"I am curious, what is Earth music like?"

"IT'S!" Lance exclaimed, and then shut his mouth, considering, eyes on the floor. "It's… "

"The average human," Pidge said softly, eyes sad, "Is never in the total quiet like here in space. There is always something. The sound of electronics, or wind outside, or distant cars. When we go shopping it's playing in all the stores. We spend, on average, about four hours of each day listening to it."

"That much?" Hunk murmured. "I never noticed. It's always just there."

"Music." Lance began again, tone wistful. "It infects you with its emotions – you can feel sad, happy, wistful, determined, cry, all from mere sounds put together. It is what families sing and laugh to on road trips, it is what is familiar to everyone even if no one speaks the same language, it is the sounds gently in the background when you tell someone you love them. It is what your mother does to fill the house with warmth when she's cleaning or cooking for you, what your father does when he laughs and scoops her to twirl her. It is what people on the street use to turn a fight into a battle where no one gets hurt and come out of smiling at each other. It is what you use to tell someone where you're from and what you value. Hundreds of years ago, before our species had even developed the capability to speak, it is what our ancestors made to make the dark seem a little less scary. It is the sound of your mother's heartbeat so long ago we can't remember it. It is what you teach a child so they learn how to spell and want to learn it. It is what you hear when everything else is quiet and you are dancing and just feeling how you and your partner move. Is the sound that makes your heart race and it feels like it beats along with the drums."

Quiet.

All the Paladins stared at the floor, tense. Wanting to go home.

"A-and you call _me_ emo." Keith attempted, slightly unsteadily. Pidge snorted, and the mood lightened, the humans trading sad smiles.

"So it is part of what makes humans, human?"

"Yes."

"I did not know this. Such an important thing, too. You see, there is plenty more to learn about each other."

The other Paladins sighed, having heard those words too many times.

"And you dance and sing at the same time? Odd." Coran commented, tipping his head to the side.

"Well, kinda. There are lots of different kinds of music and dance." Lance explained. "Some are slow, some are quick, some are even kinda like… uh, mating dances? To show off? Or even to socialize. Some people don't dance though, because that has to be taught a lot more specifically than singing."

"Didn't you take dance lessons? You mentioned that once when we were doing performances for those planets."

"Yeah. Aerial silks, several Ballroom, and some modern ones like Jazz and Lock. I can also dance like Shakira."

Keith scoffed. "You cannot."

"I can!"

"Shakira's got hips. You're a guy, Lance."

"Well, I can!" Lance reaffirmed, pouting, and leaped up from his chair, cutting his legs into a wide stance with hands on his hips.

"Oh my God. Don't."

"I'll prove it. Hunk gimmie a beat!"

Hunk giggled – _giggled_ – and leaned forward, drumming his fingers against the table for a moment and glancing at Coran and Allura, and then slammed his hand down. _One,_ two-three _, four! One,_ two-three _, four!_

Pidge started whistling.

"And IIIIIIIIII'm on tonight-" He sang along, tossing his hands up and popping his hips sideways, starting across the floor towards Keith while stepping to the beat, then turned sideways to follow it with a couple rotations, shifting his weight from foot to foot to make the dip more pronounced. "You know my hips don't LIIIIIIE and-"

"O _KAY!_ " Keith yelled, already done with his antics.

Lance kept going, grinning, Hunk laughing at Keith's expense as he kept up the beat. As he finally reached the other side of the couch and approached the doorway he spun stylishly to face the other way, grinded low, then spun and grinded again. "I'm starting to feel ya babe, the attraaaaaction, the tension, don't ya see babe-"

"ENOUGH!" Keith yelped, holding his hands up in surrender, and looking away.

"Aw, he can't deal with it." Lance laughed, vaulting over the back of the couch back to his seat.

"Shut up."

"Admit it! I can dance Shakira!"

"Fine, I admit it."

"Say it."

"You can dance fuck'n _Shakira._ "

Lance laughed again, smiling widely.

"Anyway, I'm out. Have fun."

"Ah, Keith!" Allura called before he could turn away. "Why don't you stay? I do not understand. It is a very easy game."

"HA!" Pidge yelped, while Lance burst into a fit of giggles with a mischievous look.

Allura gave them a worried look.

"… You're only, what? Two rounds in?"

"Yep." Lance answered for her.

"You always start out slow in the beginning, but if that's the way you want it Allura…" Pidge smirked.

"NOPE." Keith spun on his heel and walked out quickly.

Lance burst into giggles again, frame shaking with mirth that was matched by Pidge, and Shiro gave a low groan and covered his eyes with a hand. "Oh no."

"Allura, what have you done." Hunk said, tone light with amusement. "You've unleashed evil."

"Thanks." Pidge and Lance chorused.

"Shiro, go!"

The Black Paladin sighed, looking regretful that he decided to join. "If we're gonna go that route so early, we'll need supplies for… at least my future dares. Hunk, truth or dare."

"Dare."

"Go get whip cream, whatever we have that's most sour, if we have any ghost pepper equivalents that'd be nice, baking soda, and everything we have that Coran's made."

"You got it!" Hunk bounced up, trotting happily out the door.

"Pidge?" Allura gestured for her to begin with a slightly nervous shift of her weight.

"Lance."

"Dare." Lance answered eagerly. "Do I have to strip for it?"

"Nope." Pidge grinned evilly at him.

Lance paused. "Pidge… we have a truce, right?"

"Of course. Really, this dare has nothing to do with you. I just think Keith should be included in our game. Right Allura?"

"Yes." Allura nodded quickly.

"Oh no." Shiro groaned quietly.

"Well. Like Allura says, we need to maintain our team bonds. Riiiiight, Allura?"

"Yes…?"

"Well humans, we have a very intimate thing we do with family. It is very good for… getting to know one another, just a bit embarrassing."

"No. Noooo." Lance whimpered in time with Shiro.

"Lance. Your dare..."

"No, no, no, Pidge..."

"I thought we had a truce!"

"And you will thank me later. Just think of the blackmail material. Lance, your dare is to kiss Keith."

"Goddammit!" Lance hissed. "No."

"Ah, I see. You talk big dare game but when it comes down to it you're scared."

"I'm not scared! That's just! Hunk instead, anyone but him!"

"Can't beat your rival in a kiss?"

"I can too! I'm an amazing kisser, I made sure of that thanks!"

"Prove it!"

"Agh! Fine, but only if you can't turn down my turn's dare to you."

"Deal!" Pidge crowed joyously.

Both of them took a deep breath, calming, still staring at each other in challenge while Lance thought things through.

"What is a kiss?" Allura asked once there was opening. "Human bonding things like music and keeping secrets only for family are so odd. You speak like it's something to be done to one by another? What is it?"

Lance was out of his seat again instantly, kneeling on the floor dramatically in front of her. "I will show you, Princess!"

"YOU WILL NOT!" Shiro yelped, startling and sitting bolt upright.

"Relax, just on the hand. I'm not that ungentlemanly Shiro!"

Shiro warily settled back. "Fine."

"Can't give Keith a wimp's way out like that y'know, Lance." Pidge prodded.

Lance waved her off. "Yeah, I know. I won't half-ass it, beat him properly."

"Good."

Lance turned back to Allura. "A kiss, my dear, is merely this." He said picking up her hand and pressing his lips to it. "For humans, it is an example of many sorts of intimacy, for you it should have been on the lips as you deserve. This one, lovely, was to express my appreciation for such a fine, full-"

Shiro threw a pillow at him, and Lance darted away, giggling.

"Alright! Pidge, your dare is to bend over and let Shiro spank you."

"WHA-"

Shiro choked on his space water, coughing, hand over his mouth. Lance laughed at them.

"You can't turn it down, Pidge."

" _I_ can!" Shiro yelped.

"Not unless you want me to come back and tell you exactly what Keith did in response to my kissing skills."

"Oh, God."

"Five times. Have fun!" Lance said, sing-song. "And as proof yourself, gotta show me that red butt when I get back Pidge!"

"Oh, Gooooood."

"...Okay then, but you need proof too."

"I shall get some."

Pidge took a deep breath. "Give it to me Daddy."

Shiro choked again. "JESUS."

He skipped out the door, still snickering to himself, hearing their voices fade away behind him. "Fine, but not in the same room as Coran and Allura, let's go out in the hall..."

As it finally did fade away, he slowed, a bit of anxiety working his way into his chest.

Hell, what was he doing? Was he really going to kiss Keith? Lance pondered, feeling heat in his face, and instinctively brought up a hand to cover his mouth. Why had he agreed to this- could he even handle-?

Behind him, there was a high-pitched squeal that rang through the metal hallways.

Crap. They were really doing the dare. He had to.

A moment passed, and another sharp squeal, fainter. He wondered what Coran and Allura would think spanking was.

Then he was outside Keith's door and nervously knocked in warning before opening it.

"U-uh, hi." He stuttered nervously, feeling the red in his face get deep enough he could feel the heat. Luckily it was probably somewhat disguised by the room only being at 50% light.

"Hi? No, I'm not joining the game." Keith denied, letting the screen he was practicing reading some basic Altean from disappear and facing him expectantly for a response.

"No, I um." Lance paused, then sighed and simply stepped forward, pulled Keith closer with one arm, and pressed their mouths together. Keith made a sound of absolute shock against him. Lance kept it chaste, only tilting his head a bit, then allowed it to end, not meeting his eyes.

"You got dared."

"Well, yeah."

He was kinda expecting the slap – was even counting on it was his proof-, though it was lighter than he'd thought and accompanied by a sigh of exasperation. Keith's _tone_ was pure _fury_ , though. "That was my first kiss, you absolute jackass."

Lance whipped his gaze to Keith in alarm. "What?! How?!"

"Never liked anyone that liked me before."

"I-I'm so sorry..."

"You goddamn better be." Keith hissed, trying to tug away.

"No – wait. That was totally horrible of me, I didn't know, and I kissed you like… a dare. Can I give you a real one? I-I… don't want your only knowledge of it t-to be… please."

Keith paused. "… Fine." He agreed, voice breaking.

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah. I'm kinda curious what the fuss is anyway. That was absolutely not worth the big deal people make."

"Hey! That was fine, it just wasn't because I was trying!"

"Then do it already!"

"I am!"

"Fine!"

 _"Fine!"_ Lance hissed back, pulled him back – this time flush against him, slid one arm around Keith's waist and the other into his hair, and pressed their mouths together hard enough to make him lean back. Keith slowly began matching his movements of drawing back just a bit and returning, the changing pressure stealing Lance's breath. Lance let his lips part against Keith's just enough to draw in Keith's lower lip as he angled them sideways, then pulled back a bit to trace his mouth with just barely the tip of his tongue.

Keith whimpered, very quietly. OhGod. Lance felt his breathing quicken a bit as Keith hesitantly parted his lips, meeting Lance's tongue in the tiniest of experimental swipes as they pressed back together, tilting the other way. Lance showed him that was correct with another and deeper flick of his tongue, just past his lips to meet Keith's again before withdrawing.

He lost track after that, but everything was fire and Keith pressed against him and there was a hand tugging at his hair sending a shiver down his spine and quiet sounds and then they tilted and Lance suddenly had Keith pinned to the desk half sitting on it, with Keith's legs clinging to his waist and he could feel the warmth of every line of Keith arching into his own body, panting for breath whenever they briefly parted.

There was red, all around him, pressing down both burning hot and soothing and familiar, saw the gleam of amethyst as he let his eyes open half-mast, wild black hair curling around his hands and the sounds every time he tugged on it to add more pressure again, and red, red, red. It felt wild and wanting, and he could barely breathe and knew he was making soft sounds too but couldn't even care.

Lance's mouth finally left Keith's to trail down his throat, nipping at his pulse point then soothing it with his tongue, sucking once before trailing his tongue down so lightly it was a feather's touch and nipping at the hollow between Keith's collarbones. Unmuffled by Lance's mouth the sounds were louder but still just quiet gasps and whimpers, heady and making Lance dazed.

"Keith." He moaned, sliding his body against the other's for just an inch or so to return to his mouth, slower, slooooower, tongue sliding against his and sucking on his lower lip, trying to breathe enough at the same time-

Keith managed to draw back, pushing with hardly any strength at his shoulder. "Stop."

Lance groaned and drew back. "T-too much at once?"

"Yeah." Keith gasped, leaning his head on Lance's shoulder and trying to regain his ability to think, completely melted. "Whoa."

"That… Goddamn, Keith, that was... so much... Red..."

Keith finally managed to lift his head, breathing more even. "Hmm? Blue..."

Lance blinked. "So… maybe the Paladin bond… because. _Goddamn_ Keith I've kissed people I kinda wanted before but that was... something else." He tried to explain, and shivered. "Could… feel… _you_."

"Yeah." Keith's eyes went from dazed to dark and half-mast, and Lance had to swallow harshly.

"Just. Goddamn. Keith, d-date me?" He stuttered once, somehow still able to find it in himself to go red.

Keith just nodded, leaning his head back on Lance's shoulder.

…

Five minutes later they realized they were never going to be able to calm down just then, so Lance wandered slowly back to the others in the lounge. He'd managed to calm himself by that time, and felt dazed and just a bit tired, walking on air. This morning he'd had a rival whom he'd struggled for years to be noticed by, who was beautiful and skilled and everything amazing and Lance had to work really hard sometimes to remind himself that was how things were. Now… he guessed somehow Keith was _his_ , somewhere in all that.

He'd _felt_ Keith. It was like lightning, leaving a faint… psychic aftertaste of ozone. Red, overwhelming protective warmth, light. Something not fear but close, and he knew how special it was to be allowed close to Keith, and somehow knew that he Keith would hold on just as fiercely as he wanted to be held on to and Lance was damn okay with that. Red. Everything Keith.

He sat down on the couch while staring at the wall. He didn't even notice Hunk was back.

"… Dude. You look like you just got fucked."

"Nah." Lance answered, and glanced over to see Shiro relax.

"So why do you look so spazzed?"

"Said I wouldn't give Shiro details..."

"What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Brother." Shiro grit out.

"Oh. Well turns out kissing someone you're emotionally attached to as your rival is… really hot."

"Oh my God, Lance." Pidge burst out giggling.

"So how was your dare."

"My ass hurts."

"Oh. Okay."

"…"

"..."

"... Oh my God Lance."

"Uhm," Allura spoke up in confusion. "Does this mean your human kiss bonding exercise was successful?"

"Yeah, we're dating now."

"WHAT?!" Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk shrieked, all at least several octaves above their usual.


End file.
